Year 2013 showed privacy is an illusion in cyberspace

Snowden shed light on US’ surveillance system, PRISM; Google data showed US made 10,918 requests for information, followed by India’s 2,691

2013 has truly been a tumultuous year from every aspect, be it the Syrian unrest, the Snowden revelations or Typhoon Haiyan in Phillipines. However, 2013 has seen a lot of debate on issues related to cyberspace. Before stepping into the New Year, its time to reflect on the past, so to have a head start in 2014.

The most talked about cyberspace event of 2013 was the Snowden revelations which brought to the light the Surveillance system PRISM, of the US. The revelations have made one thing clear, the privacy on the internet is an illusion. Vint Cert, vice president and Chief Internet Evangelist for Google has already stated that Privacy may be an Anomaly.

It in now a known fact that nations across the world are interested in the data that is being generated on the internet.
As per Google’s latest Transparency Report, the US made a total of 10,918 requests for information to Google during January-June 2013, followed by India’s 2,691, Germany’s 2,311, France’s 2,011 and the UK’s 1,274 and Brazil’s 1,239 in nations, which made over a 1,000 user data requests. Read more